Hamilton vows to stick with McLaren and win the title

Lewis Hamilton said yesterday he wants to stay at McLaren for the rest of his career in formula one, claiming a move elsewhere would be "a side step or a back step". The British driver, who came within a race of winning the world title this year in his first season, is now focusing on going one step better than his second place in the drivers' championship.

"I don't know how long I will be in formula one but the team I am with right now is the only team I want to be with," he said. "I know the guys so well and I had a great season. They gave me a great opportunity. I want to win world championships and I want to win it for them.

"I see my career ending with them. I don't feel there is anywhere else to go. When you are in formula one there are the top teams and I believe McLaren is a top team, so why would I make a side step or a back step to any other team? I want to be the best driver there is today."

One of the 22-year-old Hamilton's predecessors as the great hope of British success in formula one, Jenson Button, believes Hamilton may have blown his best chance of winning the title. "He is a great driver," Button said, "but there are lots of great drivers in formula one who did not have his package. What would worry me is the lost opportunity. You can't say in my sport: 'Oh well, I only missed out by a point, so next year I'll go one better.' It doesn't work out like that."

Hamilton had a 12-point lead going into the penultimate race in China but ended up losing the title by a point to Ferrari's Kimi Raikkonen after trouble with his tyres in Shanghai followed by a disastrous season-ending Brazilian grand prix last month. "He should be sick as a dog because another chance like that might not come round again," said Button.

Hamilton won four races in his first season and will start next year among the favourites but Button, who speaks from experience having failed to fulfil his own early potential, knows formula one can be fickle. Button recorded his first win, in Hungary last year, six years after making his debut in 2000, and harboured hopes of fighting for the championship this year until it became clear his Honda was way off the pace. He ended up with six points and his Brazilian team-mate, Rubens Barrichello, drew a blank.

"The car was a complete dog and I'm not interested in racing like this any more," Button said. "I have to start winning and, if I don't, then I have to be ruthless."